Dont cry, the world will never understand
by Gee Brittany
Summary: When Hayden Applegate is killed and sent to the World of Ametris, will it lead to her meeting her true love, or her ultimately falling into a horrible death? Better than it sounds. Please read and review. OC
1. Chapter 1

Don't cry, the world will never understand.

So today started off like any other. I struggled to find the strength, let alone a reason to get out of bed. Life didn't have a purpose to me anymore, after all, what am I? Hayden Applegate. The most diminutive minority in the world, who wouldn't be missed by anyone if she was gone.

I looked deep into the mirror sitting before me, studying the face that I knew all too well but seemed to foreign to me. I watched as her hand – tainted by the strange mark, reached to her face and brushed the long, dark hair from her lifeless eyes; the deep brown orbs holding such a past that I knew no one could ever understand. I held my hand against the mirror, meeting that of my reflections, and tried to imagine that the girl staring back at me was a person trapped behind an invisible wall of all the hate, pity and guilt that I never wanted, but got anyway. The same wall that held me in my own personal hell.

I raised my right hand to my face and examined the unique birthmark I possessed. It was all that covered the repugnant self- inflicted scars that were an everyday reminder that no matter what I did, I would never part from this mark. As I ran my fingers across it I closed my eyes and listened.

'_I'm never going to be able to pay these bills-'_

'_Who's going to pick the kids up from school? Judy? No she's working late too-'_

'_She's on to me I know it. Act normal John, act normal. I'll break up with her when the times right-'_

'_Shit, I killed him! He's dead! I can't go back to jail. I'll have to stash the body-'_

I snapped my eyes open, but didn't gasp or flinch; I have heard plenty of thoughts like this. Seems these days I can see when other people's lives are too short, but not my own. All my life I've been outcast and alienated, condemned to live a life where I have nothing and no one. I can't even close my eyes anymore in fear of reliving that hellish night in vivid memory; watching it like a horrifying movie playing infinitely behind my eyelids, that I can never escape, slowly inching me towards the abyss of insanity.

I looked warily at my alarm clock, 12:09 flash brightly in red neon numbers. Another day had started. Another day to put on a mask of feigned happiness and front people like nothing is wrong, that I'm fine and everything is fine and dandy, when it's not. But there are some things you can't hide from people no matter how hard you try; looking at me now, compared to three months ago, I had changed dramatically. I'd grown scarcely thin; my skin had paled into a lucid, translucent colour, my eyes had dropped from the weight of the black bags under them and Trichotillomania had me obsessively pulling my hair out. Insomnia had robbed me of my sleep and the couple of precious minutes of sleep I got were ridden with nightmares of the worst kind...memories. It doesn't help that I'm never in complete peace and quiet – my mind is always muddled with the minds of others. Sometimes just simple things like thoughts other times riddled with stray images or dreams which caused me to appear detached as I watched.

I stood up. As I walked towards the bedroom door I thought about how this had become such a drawling, time consuming, obsessive ritual. Since the that night, I've gone to bed at ten-thirty, fallen asleep at ten-thirty-five, then woken up at eleven-fifty-nine, sharp... the exact time that _it_ happened. I waited for the door to be fully open before I flicked off my light; I always leave the lights on now because believe me, you never know who's creeping around in the dark. The only light that could be seen in the house what that of the flickering television; I walked down the stairs on my toes, carful to miss the squeaky floorboards. Sure enough Helen – my foster Mother – had fallen into a deep sleep; her hushed snores made me shiver. I don't like her. I don't like the way her short, solid body seemed so intimidating against my tall, slender physique. I don't like the way her voice was loud and commanding, the result of years in the police force. But most of all I _hated_ the way she always makes me feel so guilty for what happened. She suddenly jerked forward, her eyes staying shut; a smile played across my mouth as I laid my hand on her arm.

'"_Put the gun down!" Helen screamed, the masculinity in her voice shining through. The tall man stood his ground, gun pointed towards Helen, angry brown eyes glaring at her from the holes of the balaclava masking his identity. Suddenly, Helen's backup officers disappeared, leaving Helen alone to face death. _

"_Please. Please. Please." It was unclear whether she was begging for mercy or praying to God but her voice was instantly soft, youthful in the face of fear. The man shook his head and raised the gun higher, tightening his aim. His gloved finger pulled the trigger.'_

As I pulled my hand away from Helen's arm, the scene before me dissipated and I was once again in the living room with the television flickering away, the light dancing in contrast with the shadows. I smiled evilly; some people call me a sadist because I get joy off other people's pain, nobody sees it as a form of grieving. I crept ninja-like into the kitchen and turned on the lights, shuddering as I realised that I had left my drawings and pencils strewn across the table; I hurried over to them. The thing about my drawings was that they are also one of my gifts. I can draw anything perfectly, copied or free hand, eyes open or closed. I can see something for one second and then draw it perfectly a week later. Sometimes I draw things I see in pictures that I receive from other people's minds. I frantically tried to pull everything into a single pile, praying that no one had looked through it; I try to keep my personal life as far away from Helen as possible, so of course she doesn't know about my...abilities.

My body covered itself in Goosebumps from the freezing temperature, not surprisingly though, since I was only wearing a wife-beater and a pair of denim shorts, my typical pyjamas, yet the pockets were stuffed with my mobile phone and my Ipod. I shuddered, hugging my arms close to my body, I knew that I had thrown a hoodie somewhere in a fit of frustration last night, but where? After a long, boring search for the hoodie, I found it crumpled under the chair of the table; rolling my eyes I bent down, scowling at myself for not noticing it in such an obvious hiding spot. Slipping it over my torso I sighed with pleasure at the abrupt amount of heat that began to course through my body from the simple jacket. Helen's snuffed snoring suddenly elevated, sounding as one loud snort, causing me to jump.

I snuck across the linoleum floor; the buzzing fluorescent lights irritated my eyes, making me rub them profusely. A deep yawn managed to claw through my locked jaw, wrenching my mouth open in a silent sign of my insomnia. My hand reached over slowly, clicking the power button on the kettle, it instantly whirred to life. My hand then lingered, hovering a few inches off the bench top, searching. Sugar. Milo. Tea. Crap, no coffee. I shifted my gaze anxiously to the clock. 1:02 it read in fancy cursive numerals. My eyes flicked to the window, the menacing darkness was somehow softened by the full moon splaying glittering rays of silvery light onto the Earth, silhouetting the suspicious shapes that I knew posed no threat.

'_The BP station is only a two minute walk from here, nothing will happen, I'll just duck down there, get some coffee and come back'_

I dug my hand into my pocket searching for loose change. Balling my hand into a fist, I pulled it out, studying the contents inside: two-dollars-fifty in change, a five dollar note and a button. I rolled my eyes and dropped the button on the floor whilst turning on my heels.

I pulled on my brown ankle-high converse, wincing as my thumb got caught between my heel and the back of the shoe. I opened the door, thinking for sure that the creaking that the old oak made would have woken Helen, but surprisingly, her snoring echoed through the rooms as loud as before. I recoiled slightly as the chilling night air nipped at my skin, sending Goosebumps frenzying all over my uncovered legs. After a while I stepped onto the porch, welcoming the autumn night air; shutting the door quietly so as to not wake up Helen I glanced around, maybe this wasn't the smartest idea I've ever had. I quickly shook the feeling off and took off, walking quickly through the driveway-gates. I pulled my black hood up and reached into my pocket and pulled out my Ipod, plugging it into my ears; I turned it on shuffle and turned the music up full bore. Generally that wouldn't be a smart move but in my case, I would hear them coming long before they reached me, one of the perks of telepathy. The green luminescent lights of the BP station glared from a very short distance.

"Ah, here we are. NesCafe," I muttered picking up the jar, my voice rasping slightly from lack of use. The automatic sliding doors opened, just in time for a tingling sensation to run down my spine, the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. My eyes picked up on the TV screen security camera through my peripherals and I watched as a man wearing a balaclava walked calmly towards the counter, but his mind told otherwise.

'_Man, what am I doing? I need this money. I need this money. I have to pay him back or he's going to kill her. I can't let that happen. God, Sophie don't worry, Daddy will be back soon'_

I looked down at the floor sadly. Another drug deal gone wrong, another innocent life that would be taken, another family that would be left broken.

"Put the money in the bag," he paused, pulling a gun from inside his thick black jacket, "and don't even think about calling the cops." He turned, swinging the gun in front of him. "All right, everybody on the floor!" He screamed. I heard a chorus of screams as the few people in the small shop, including a young girl, pressed themselves to the floor. I stood my ground, despite my heart pounding loud and fast in my ears. His dark eyes bored into mine. "I said get on the floor, now girl!" He shook his gun threateningly towards me, I looked at him. I could feel the tendrils of power worming their way from my mind to his, latching on like hands.

"No," I growled. His eyes narrowed into slits as he aimed the gun for my head. "Stop," I commanded. His eyes widened and the tendons pulsed from his arm as he tried to move it.

"You don't want to do this," I whispered, "think of Sophie, what would she think of you if she knew you were doing this? There's already too many scary things in the world these days, don't make yourself one of them." A sudden smash sounded from beside me and a flick of my eyes was all it took.

People say that when you're going to die your whole life flashes before your eyes. Not true. If I had that split second I wouldn't have heard that bang, felt the cold metal bullet pierce my forehead, or seen the darkness swallow me whole. No; none of those things would have happened, but I also would have never been standing in front of that gate.

I stood dead still; my ragged breathing was all that could be heard as I stared up at the beautiful detail on the gate. An eerie creek echoed as the gate door began to open. I took a cautious step closer, trying to look into the pitch-black belly of the gate. Whispered voices carried like wind around me, calling me to enter; cooing me with gentle harmonic tones, inviting me in.

"Come child," one whispered.

My gut was roaring for me not to go, to stay put and close my eyes. But something about the voices was so alluring, I just couldn't help myself. I walked closer to the darkness and reached out as far as I could, the whispering voices encouraging me. Suddenly small, thin arms shot from the shadows and wrapped around my body, pulling me inside. I thrashed about, trying to wriggle from their grip but failing miserably. Eyes stared at me from all directions, the bright lights emitting from them gave me strange comfort knowing that the abyss I was being dragged deeper and deeper into had at least some form of light. I looked across my pale arm, my reaction from feeling tugging on it; my eyes widened at what I saw. At first I didn't know what they were but at second glance, I saw that they were babies; skinny, deformed and disturbing but babies nonetheless. A group of them had latched themselves across my left arm, pulling with all their strength. The silence of the gate was enveloped by my ever growing screams of pain, as my arm began to glow and before I knew it, disappeared. My screams became several octaves louder as something I knew I would never be able to describe ran through my head: pictures, memories, tragedies, dreams... truth. I couldn't handle it, things like this should never be known, it was enough to break... no shatter my insides as I was engulfed in what I feared the most, darkness.


	2. Chapter 2

Roy Mustangs POV

Roy Mustang, the flame alchemist, was currently fuming. It barely ever snowed in Central and his warm temperature was struggling to cope with it, even with his long thick military coat and transmutation circle-imprinted gloves, he still found himself shivering with lack of warmth. Grunting as he walked heavy-footed through the thick white snow, he didn't even turn to check on his companion. Roy was furious with his Comrade, Lieutenant. Riza Hawkeye; after she scared off one of his 'future dates' by holding a gun to her head. Curiosity got the better of him as he turned to see how she was handling the horrid conditions, huffing angrily at what he saw: Riza smirking at him as she strode with ease through the snow, despite carrying her squirming puppy, Black Hayate. Suddenly Roy felt himself falling forward as his foot caught on something. Landing with a distinct 'oof' sound, he scowled at the humiliating escapade that had just occurred as his eyes searched for the culprit. The blood instantly drained from his face as he saw what had caused him to trip: a hand, small and pale protruding from an uneven mound of snow. Roy wasted no time in scurrying over and digging wildly around the hand.

"Riza! Quick come and help me!" His voice was loud and gruff but Riza could still hear the panic he was trying so hard to mask. Her hand moved over her gun in automatic reflex but her legs were carrying her in amazing speed to where Roy was kneeling, a gasp left her lips as she saw a body beginning to be uncovered. The snow had been removed off the top half of the person's body when Roy lifted them up by putting one of his gloved hands under their back. He hesitantly and gently pulled the hood of their head and gasped as long chestnut-brown hair spilled out and dropped onto the ground. Roy noted how her skin was deathly pale and her lips had turned a very light powder blue as he put two fingers against the freezing skin of her neck to check for a pulse; an extremely faint throbbing was felt under his fingers.

"She's still alive, but barely –"

"– Sir," Riza whispered hoarsely, gesturing to the red blood stained snow, caked around the Girl's lower body. Roy and Riza both dug at the snow, Roy using one hand as he held the girl in his other. It was taking too long, her body was growing colder and colder by the second, at this rate she would be dead in no time at all. Grabbing her under the arms, Roy pulled her out from under the snow; blood continued to pour from the lower half of her body and it wasn't until she was hanging limply bridal-style in his arms that he realised that the blood was coming from a stump where her right leg used to be.

"We need to get her to a hospital now!" Roy shouted in an unnecessarily loud voice. He stood and began running.

Hayden's POV

_I laid in my Mother's arms while she wiped the tears from my eyes. I buried my face in her shoulder and inhaled her sweet 'strawberries and cream' scent, while she ran her gentle fingers through my hair. _

"_Mummy, why do you have to go?" My young muffled voice wavered as stray tears once again ran down my cheeks and onto Mum's shirt. I felt her chest rise and drop very slowly as her tears silently ran. _

"_Do you know where I'm going?" She whispered._

"_Heaven" I choked out, no longer having the strength to hold back the sobs that now quaked through my chest._

"_That's right baby. And whenever you want me – or need me; I'll be right here," she rested her hand on my chest where my heart was. I couldn't talk, all I could do was hold my Mother, hoping if I held her tight enough she wouldn't die; the pain of my heart ripping into pieces made me want to scream, but I didn't._

"_Will – will you wait for me?" I felt her breath hitch in her throat. "Wherever you go, promise you'll wait for me. I love you, Mummy." The room stayed silent._

"_Mummy?" I looked up, to see a faceless woman staring at me. My insides flew into my throat. "Mu-Mummy?" Tears formed in my eyes as the non-existent face began to twist and morph into demonic-like faces. The gate-babies._

I opened my eyes. Every colour and shape ran together in some surreal blur. Rubbing my eyes I sat up, sudden realisation came rushing back to me as I remembered the gun, the gate and the truth. My eyes snapped open and I looked around, at first I couldn't comprehend what I was seeing; cartoons, like I was staring into a 3D life size television. Then, as I waved my arms in front of my face and saw a pair of animated arms doing the same, a hysterical scream pierced through my lungs. I ripped the blankets off of my body and jumped off the uncomfortable bed onto the cold linoleum floor, screaming louder as I immediately lost my balance and fell to the floor. My breath hitched in my throat as I looked down, seeing only floor where my right leg should have been. I was past the point of screaming, this couldn't be real – it wasn't real. I'm dead; this was probably just some reflex nerve thing or something. I dragged myself into the corner and wrapped my arms around my one leg, shaking while rocking back and forth, listening.

'_It doesn't make any sense. How did she get there and why does she only have one leg?'_

"Um hello."

'_What was she wearing? I've never seen clothes like before, where is she from?'_

"H-hello –"

'_And those strange contraptions that were in her pockets, what are they for?'_

I flinched as a cold hand rested on my shoulder.

"Oh, sorry; I didn't mean to startle you," a childish voice rang hollowly like an echo through the suit of armour kneeling before me. I gasped, but it wasn't that that frightened me.

"I can't hear you..." I could tell he was confused as I raised my palm to his metallic cheek, "what are you?" I closed my eyes.

_Two young boys kneeling on the ground put their hands to a circle-like shape drawn on the ground. "Water, thirty-five litres. Carbon, twenty kilograms. Ammonia, four litres. Lime, one-point-five kilograms. Phosphorous, eight-hundred grams." The younger boy joined, finishing the list of ingredients._

"_Salt, two-hundred-and-fifty grams. Saltpeter, one-hundred; Sulphur, eighty; chlorine, seven-point-five; iron, five; silicone, three grams."_

"_And trace amounts of fifteen other elements. Yeah that's everything – the physical ingredients of a human body. Now if we can just put together a soul, we should be able to call Mom back from the other side." The younger boy turned to the older one._

"_Edward, you sure we should do this?"I could immediately hear the worry in his voice, he wanted to pull out._

"_Of course, don't wimp out on me now." The older boy seemed dead-set that this is what he needed to do._

"_But no one's ever done this right, I mean alchemy is equivalent exchange; the body contents seem simple enough, but what about the soul? What could we possibly offer?" I had to admit, for these boys' ages they were very smart and mature. _

"_Just hold out your finger okay." I looked closer to see the older boy pull out a knife and cut the younger boy's finger before cutting his own._

"_What's a soul really? When you take out the myth, it's just a spark that starts life-" the blood fell into the heap of ingredients in the middle of the circle. "This is our blood, from her blood. That's a fair trade" _

_They kneeled to the ground and put their hands against the circle's outline. Immediately, yellow-light rays emitted from the accurate lines on the floor and a tornado-like array of lights rose from the centre. Suddenly the lights changed to a red-purple colour and the panic was evident on the boy's faces. _

"_Brother, something's going wrong here." The smaller boys screaming filled the room as his body began to be engulfed by a red light. I looked to the other boy whose leg was being grabbed at by something. My eyes widened as I realised what was happening._

I pulled my arm away and fell against the wall. A childish gasp sounded as the armour fell backwards,

"What – what was that? What did you just do?" He whispered. I was shaking uncontrollably now; I could only manage two squeeze two words from my vocabulary, "the – the gate?" It sounded more of a question than anything. He crawled to his hands and knees and shuffled towards me, his hand extended towards me and I recoiled back letting out a quiet whimper, God how I despised looking this pathetic.

"Don't worry; I'm not going to hurt you." I opened my eyes and looked towards the suit of armours glowing red eyes.

"Where am I?" I whispered, my voice drenched with sadness and fear, two things I had not felt in so long.

"You're in central," he said slowly, as if to let it sink in. I looked at him strangely.

"That's not a place. Am I still in Australia?" His head cocked to the side slightly.

"I'm sorry, I've never heard of that place." This hit me hard in the chest. If I wasn't in Australia, then where was I? And why is everything in animation? This is impossible, considering the fact that the last thing I remember is being shot in the head. I buried my head in my hands, shaking it from side to side profusely, as if by some miracle it would make everything go back to the way it was.

"No. No. No. This doesn't make any sense."

"What doesn't?"

"Everything. This whole world, nothing is making sense. I should be dead."

He looked confused then looked down and gasped. "What happened to your leg?" I frowned a little and looked him straight in the eye.

"I – I" I sighed, "you're going to think I'm crazy, but the way today is going, nothing seems impossible anymore."

He didn't say anything.

"Umm, so I come from this place that looks nothing like here, and I got shot and there was this gate with these gross arms and babies and yeah, now I'm here." I looked down and braced myself for laughter or a 'you're crazy' remark but instead all I could hear was heavy breathing.

"You've seen the gate?" My eyes widened and my heart jumped as I looked up. "But you said you were killed. So does that mean you're a..." he trailed off as he looked down, letting out a very obvious gasp as his eyes rested on my hand, "Homunculus!" He leapt backwards onto the floor and slid as far away from me as he could.

"A what?" My heart was pounding heavily now, was there something wrong with me? He extended his quivering hand to point a finger at my hand. I looked down and lifted my hand to my face. "What? This?" I turned my palm to face him and he nodded cautiously. "No, no. You've got it all wrong, this is just a birthmark, I've had it since I was born."

"What?" He asked quietly, the childish fear evident in his voice.

"Well; my Great Grandfather had it, then my Grandfather had it, then my Dad had it and now I have it." I rubbed the back of my neck in nervousness. "What's a Homunculus?"

"They're living puppets. They were once Human beings and when they died," he looked to the floor, "someone loved them so much that they tried to bring them back from the dead, by Human Transmutation – alchemy's greatest taboo. They give up part of their bodies and in return all they get is a soulless monster, living off murder." I gasped.

"Why do you think I'm one of them then?"

"Well, you have an Ouroborus." I shot him a confused look and he pointed to my hand.

"This thing has a name?" I scratched at it a bit; the tension becoming thick in the air. "What's alchemy?"

"You're really not from around here are you?" I shook my head lightly and began to drag myself back towards the bed. I heard a small sigh and the sound of metal rubbing together, then the next thing I know I had been picked up from under the arms and sat on the bed.

"Thanks." He nodded slightly, "what's your name anyway?"

"Alphonse, but you can call me Al."

"Alphonse? I've never heard of that name before. I'm Hayden by the way."

"Pleasure to meet you, Hayden." I smirked at his formality.

"The pleasures all mine, Al." He glanced down at my hand and I grimaced.

"Please Al, you have to believe that I'm not like these Homunculus people. But I always knew there was something, I don't know, evil about this birthmark."

"What do you mean?" I held my palm to him.

"You see these scars?" I asked, gesturing to the disfigured skin underneath the birthmark. He nodded, "these are from all the times I've tried to get rid of this mark. Burning, slicing, grating; but in the end nothing works, just a trip to the hospital and in the morning it's always right back there."

"Why would you hurt yourself just to get rid of a mark?"

"It's a long story." He must have sensed that I didn't want to talk about it because he just nodded his head. The room stayed silent for a few minutes before I broke it.

"So what is this alchemy thing you were talking about?"

"Alchemy is the science of breaking down and reconstructing molecules into a different form." I feigned interest; truth is I slept through every science class last year and I didn't understand one thing that just came out of his mouth, he lost me at the word 'science'.

"Umm, what are you doing?" I asked the now kneeling Alphonse, he had a stick of chalk and was drawing some kind of circle on the floor.

"I'm going to show you alchemy." I mentally rolled my eyes, greeeaaat. "This," he pointed to the circle he had drawn on the ground, "this is called a Transmutation circle." I nodded admiring his work.

"How did you get it so accurate? Like seriously that's a perfect circle and it's done freehand, what do you have like some inbuilt compass?"

"Thank you," he said enthusiastically, appreciating my compliment.

"Now, can you please hand me that gauze?" I looked over to the table beside the hospital bed and grabbed the bandage that was obviously not in use, and dropped it into his huge hand. "Thank you." He dropped the bandage in the middle of the circle and pressed his hands to the edge. My jaw dropped and heart raced as blue lights danced around the circle like electricity and then stopped abruptly, leaving a pair of perfect white gloves sitting in the bandage's place. Al picked up the gloves and placed them in my lap. I was still speechless from the shock.

"Here, wear these, and don't let anyone see your Ouroborus. I mean anybody." I still stared at him like a deer in headlights.

"How did you do that?" I whispered.

He laughed a little at me, "I told you, alchemy." I breathed out heavily trying to process all of this.

"What is it some sort of magic?" I asked quietly. He laughed again.

"No, just science, didn't they have alchemy where you come from?"

"Definitely not; infact this place is unimaginably different to where I come from." He seemed genuinely interested, so I continued. "Even down to what it looks like. This place is animated, and we have that where I come from, but they're called cartoons and they're not real." He gasped.

"Not real?" I slipped the gloves over my hand.

"Yeah, so you can imagine what I'm going through right now."

"But that –" I cut him off.

"Shhhh."

"_Sounds like she's awake."_

"Someone's coming." He stayed silent as if he was listening.

"But how do you know?" Footsteps slowed and stopped at the door.

"I see you're awake." A smug voice stated matter-of-factly. I looked towards that door to see a tall man, his hair and eyes both the colour of pure onyx. Somehow the arrogant aura that surrounded him seemed to suit his personality.

"Gee, thanks Captain obvious," I muttered, not satisfying my craving to piss someone off. He simply smirked as a reply, earning a glare from me.

"Now, now; is that anyway to speak to the man who saved your life?" My insides curdled slightly but I kept my poker face.

"Oh really, and what was it that my life needed saving from? Because I'm sure I could have handled it." My eyebrow rose slightly. His eyes trailed down to where the stump that used to be my right leg was.

"Oh yeah, looked like you were all over it." His smirking and arrogance was really getting on my last nerve.

"Yes, well not that this isn't fun but I was just getting acquainted with my new buddy Alphonse here, when you so rudely interrupted, so if you would like to leave now, that would be greatly appreciated." The sarcasm was thick in my voice and he seemed to notice.

"Sorry, I can't do that. See, you're wanted for questioning by the military; direct orders from the Füehrer." I rolled my eyes, what was I in Germany now?

"Well you can tell the Füehrer, that if he wants to talk to me, he can get off his fat lazy arse and come down here himself."

"Didn't your parent's ever teach you how to treat your superiors?"

"Yeah, they also taught me never to be pushed around by anyone. And the only person who is superior to me is Barack Obama (sorry I had to. I just love that guy)." He seemed a little taken back by this, but sure enough his eyes closed calmly and yet another smirk slid across his lips.

"Hm, childish ignorance." My eye twitched.

"Hey Douchbag, I'm sixteen alright, far from a kid; and excuse me if I don't want the po po all up in my grill when I haven't done anything wrong. Actually, you know what? I'm the victim here, take note of the one leg," I growled pointing at the stump, "incase you haven't noticed, I'm having a really bad day, so if you don't want my good foot shoved up your arse, you'd better just fuck off!" His eyes were wide and he looked very taken aback. Feeling quite proud of myself I turned back to Alphonse.

"Where were we?" I asked, he and the man both fell to the ground in a crumpled heap. I groaned as my head throbbed, "Oh my God! Just kill me already, it's like a massive hangover," I put my hands over my forehead.

'_I can relate.'_

I laughed silently to myself.

"Look, we've gotten off on the wrong foot. I'm Colonel Roy Mustang, the flame alchemist." His hand extended towards me.

"Hayden Applegate, and I don't have a title." I grasped his hand and shook it, "hey you have those circle thingy's on your gloves." I noted aloud. He chuckled slightly.

"Perceptive one, aren't you." I glared at him and was about to open my mouth to retort when he cut me off. "Alphonse, make sure Hayden here is introduced to Fullmetal. He should be in, in a few minutes." He turned back to me and smirked, "I'll be back, so don't get too comfortable."

I rolled my eyes, "oh and Colonel, one more thing," I used the word 'Colonel' with as much sarcasm as possible. He walked towards me and I motioned for him to come closer, he bent do so his ear was level with my mouth. "You know, it's not professional to come to work with a hangover," I whispered with a smirk. He shot me a look and I gave him a mock two-fingered salute as he walked stiffly out of the room.


	3. Chapter 3

**Alice may have called it Wonderland, but I call it hell.**

"Are you hungry, Hayden?" Alphonse asked, from his leaning stance against the wall on the other side of the muggy, white room.

"No, thanks; tell me Al, how old are you?" He remained silent for a while, but soon replied,

"Fourteen." I nodded slowly.

"So how does this work?" I asked motioning towards his armour, "How does an empty suit or armour move around? Or is this a normal thing around here?" I could tell he was in shock, when his answers came out as jittered stutters.

"Ho...how...how" I rolled my eyes and pointed a gloved finger to my temple.

"Telepathic, and before you ask, the answer is no, it isn't normal where I come from. But the strange thing is I can't hear you. So naturally I needed to know why, turns out there isn't a body in that suit of armour, is there?" He sighed and dropped his posture, his glowing eyes dropping to the seemingly interesting floor.

"No. What you saw was a failed human transmutation; my brother and I attempted to resurrect our Mother when we were kids." I snorted,

"Alphonse, you're only fourteen, you are still a kid." He nodded solemnly.

"My brother lost his leg and I lost my body. My brother sacrificed his arm for my life." He took of the head of the armour and revealed a small red symbol, "this is called a blood seal, and it's what Brother used to seal my soul inside this suit of armour." My brow dropped in confusion.

"So you're kind of like a ghost then? Cool." I stated enthusiastically.

"What's a ghost?" He questioned quietly. I wanted to roll my eyes, but I restrained myself knowing that he and I called two very different worlds home.

"A ghost is the soul left after a person dies. Sometimes, when someone dies their spirit doesn't cross over and stays on Earth. They're fucking everywhere these days! Pretty much every house I've lived in had at least one or two in there, opening doors at night, making creepy noises, standing over you while you try to sleep. A lot of people can't see them, but a few can, including me; they're kinda scary if you ask me."

"But how does a soul exist without a body?"

"Al, where I come from, just because something doesn't have a body to sustain it, doesn't mean it doesn't exist. A ghost is the soul left after a person dies, for whatever reason they couldn't cross over, they stay behind to fulfil. Whether it's watching over somebody, or protecting a house, they can't hurt you. Every time I see them, they look like people, in photos they look like people or orbs or just shadows."

"Oh," his voice trailed off, and the tone of his voice made me wonder if he was thinking about something deeply conflicting.

'_She can't be as bad as the Colonel made her out to be.'_

"Your brother's coming. Al, do you mind if we keep this little telepathy thing between us?" He looked up to me and nodded. A small knock sounded at the door and Alphonse jumped. "Jeez Al, don't be so jumpy." He laughed quietly and walked to the door, opening it.

A boy, rather short, with blonde hair and brilliant golden eyes, wearing a large red overcoat walked through the door.

"Hey Al, I-" He cut his sentence short when his golden eyes met mine. As he stared the awkwardness set into the atmosphere.

'_Wow, she's beautiful.'_

"Sup?" I said with a small wave, he cocked his eyebrow in confusion.

"Um, pardon?" I exhaled impatiently and rolled my eyes, was everyone here so grandparent-ish?

"What's up?" I drawled slowly, hoping they weren't all completely brain-dead here. I noticed his eyes hadn't shifted from mine but his face was distorted in a look of confusion. "Obviously Al here got the looks and the brains." Al laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his neck. Ed's face hadn't moved; I slapped my forehead with my palm. Annoyed, I held out my hand, "Hayden Applegate." His face finally changed into a warm smile as he walked proudly over and extended his hand,

"Edward Elric." I grasped his hand firmly hand shook it, his hand felt strange, I frowned slightly.

"What the?" I pulled his hand closer towards me and pulled off his glove, shiny metal greeted my curious eyes. I could feel him struggling as my finger trailed along the cold metallic limb. "That is so cool," I whispered in awe.

"W-what?" He asked.

"Al, you never mentioned that your brother was dropped the head as a baby." Al sniggered quietly.

"You really are as bad as the Colonel said."

"Don't compare me to anything that comes out of that guy's mouth!" Al's small voice joined the conversation.

"Uh, Hayden; that didn't make sense," I scowled at him,

"Whose side are you on? Besides I don't have to make sense." I crossed my arms furiously, "I don't have to explain myself to this small-fry." His eye twitched, knowing I struck a nerve, I smirked.

"Who are you calling a midget beansprout who could be crushed by a flea!" Al was holding him around the waist as he tried furiously to get to me. I giggled menacingly,

"That's good; I might have to write that one down." He screamed in anger.

"Brother please!" Al whined loudly, trying to settle his brother. I was losing interest in the situation at a rapid pace.

"Al, why do you call Edward brother, I mean, why don't you just call him by his name?" I was fascinated by the cultural differences; they were becoming more obvious by this point of time. Al whispered harshly in Edward's ear, whatever he said, seemed to calm Edward down as he pushed himself away from Al muttering under his breath.

"Well, it's just how some of us talk... I don't know." I nodded averting my gaze from his glowing eyes, noticing a bag in Edward's hands.

"Hey Junior Burger, what's in the bag?" He frowned slightly at the playful nickname but handed the bag to me.

"I picked them up at the front desk; they said it was the possessions you were admitted with." I dug eagerly through the contents and sighed in glee and relief as my hands enclosed around two items. I fell back against the pillow with a smile on my face cradling my Ipod and phone against my chest.

"Oh, thank you God!" I cried over-dramatically. I pressed buttons praying that they still worked, a warm rush of gratefulness coursed through my body as lights emitted from the screens.

"What are those?" Edward asked, coming closer to try and examine what I held in my hands. He reached over to grab my phone.

"Uh, uh, uh; hands off, Danny Devito," I said with a laugh, things were more fun when he didn't know I was insulting him. He kept his hand outstretched and I sighed loudly, "ugh! Alright, one little look, but be careful!" I gritted my teeth together in an obvious attempt to show him to be careful; he snatched it from my hand and clicked all the buttons.

"It my mobile phone, and don't press the buttons!" I scolded, he inspected it suspiciously.

"What does it do?"

"Well you can call and text people, take photos and play games. I guess that's about it." He nodded his head to my Ipod.

"What about that one?"

"Uh, this," I held it up, "is an Ipod and it plays songs in Mp3 format." He nodded slowly, I knew he didn't understand. I sighed and held an earphone to him. "Here, listen." I pressed play and Paranoia by Green day began, Edward put his ear to the small ear piece and jumped away, staring in awe.

"What was that?" He yelled.

"Uh, that was Green Day." He frowned.

"Where did you get this?" He asked holding up the phone.

"Telstra shop," I replied nonchalantly, "now can I _please _have my phone back." He handed it back, the look of astonishment not departing his facial features. I flipped it open, no reception. "I'll say," I mumbled.

I stretched my arms out is a wide yawn, the stump of my leg shaking. "Well that was gross," I said looking at my leg. "I can honestly say that I want out of this horse-piddle." Al giggled while Edward's face stayed stern.

"Well you can't leave," he said in a definite tone.

"And why can't I, oh King of the Metal limbs?" I whined in a loud overly-dramatically voice.

"Because...well...um...because I said so." I rolled my eyes.

"Ooooh, I'm shaking from the hard core authority," I mock shook, "look buddy, I've dealt with worse than overly-mature little shit-heads like you, so if you don't get me out of here now, I swear I'll drag my one legged body out the front door of this hospital, hunt you down and beat the crap out of you."

"You are so annoying!" He screamed in my face. Rubbing his temples he closed his eyes to try and concentrate over my parading chorus of insults. He sighed angrily. "I suppose we can take you to the Colonel, because we know how he's your biggest fan and all, and the only thing that would be better than pissing you off, is pissing him off." I smiled triumphantly.

I looked around the streets from the wheelchair that Edward was currently setting in motion, so to speak. "Where are all the cars?"

"What, do you think everyone is made of money?" I could hear the irritation in his voice and I frowned.

"Ah, no; you can get a car from the wreckers for like a hundred bucks. That's like a weeks' pay, god! Is everyone around here so fricken' retarded?"

"Save it for Colonel Bastard, Applegate."

"Will do, Elric." The rest of the trip was silent, except for the random thoughts of by passers. I couldn't stop myself from picking out the differences between this world and mine. For example, everything was in so much less detail, the trees that we passed were all the one shade of colour, so bright and vibrant. Things were all the wrong colours and shapes, like people's eyes and their hair. And water is actually blue, what's up with that? I couldn't bring myself to miss home, after all, what was there to miss? I had nothing and no one, not much different to here, except now I had a clean slate; the problem is – I'm not sure I wanted one. I felt Ed's pace slow as we approached a large, grey stone building.

'_God, I hate this place.'_

"What's so bad about it, Ed?" I smirked when I felt him abruptly stop. Alphonse took this as a sign to intercept.

"Come on Brother, we don't want to keep the Colonel waiting." He replaced Ed's hands on the wheelchair handles and quickly began pushing me towards the building. He bent his head to my ear, "you know, if you don't want Brother to find out about your abilities, you really shouldn't do that." I giggled like a child who had just stolen a cookie.

"Relax Al; I'm just messing with his head s'all."

"I wouldn't Hayden, Brother's very perceptive, and he'll get suspicious."

"Well, I'll just have to let him. He's suspicious already." Al turned to see his brother standing still, staring at the ground with a perplexed look strewn across his face.

"What's he thinking?" Al asked with a small childish giggle. I didn't say anything for a few moments but soon opened my mouth,

"You know Ed, it's not polite to think about how hot someone is twenty-four-seven" I yelled loudly, causing Al to laugh and Ed to growl.

"Don't flatter yourself!" He screamed as we entered the large Oakwood doors. I looked at the furniture and frowned.

"Al, why does everything around here look so... old-fashioned?" I struggled to find the right wording, in an attempt to not offend him.

"I don't know what you're talking about; these items are actually quite modern." I looked around.

"Uh vintage I guess, but seriously, this looks like stuff you would find in my Grandparent's house," I looked to the floor as I tried to remember them, feeling the burn of the tears welling up in my eyes, I blinked them back furiously; Ed seemed to notice.

"Hayden, are you okay." I retained my hard outer shell,

"Shut-up Edward," I said coldly. He looked to the ground, offended.

'_God, I hate paperwork.'_

"I'm guessing that one is the Roy's office," I said pointing to the two large doors at the end of the hallway. I heard and odd clanking noise and guessed it was Alphonse's armour clashing as he nodded. As we approached the door, I kicked it with my converse shoe.

"What are you doing?" Edward hissed. I turned my head to him.

"It's called knocking from a wheelchair." He rolled his eyes. The door creaked open and a tall woman with beautiful blonde hair and brown eyes looked through, she turned her head.

"Colonel, Fullmetal is here," She stated in a calm voice.

"Send him in."

Al began to push me through the door that was now held open by the blonde woman; I was greeted by a stressed Roy sitting behind a mountain of paperwork.

"Bonjour, mon colonel. Comment est votre paperasse et gueule de bois va?"(Hello, Colonel. How is your paperwork and hangover going?) I heard him exhale deeply as he lifted his head from the paperwork.

"What?"

"Je parlais justement à Alphonse ici de comment je peux lire dans les pensées, et vous et tout le monde ici ne saurons jamais, car vous ne savez pas le français. N'est-ce pas vous frustrer?" (I was just telling Alphonse here about how I can read minds, and you and everybody else here will never know, because you don't know French. Doesn't that frustrate you?) I asked with a laugh, seeing the confused look on his face.

He stood and walked over to me kneeling down to my level. "What language is that?" He asked studying my face.

"You know when you're trying to be intimidating; you should try not looking like such an arrogant jackass." I heard Edward stifling a snigger. He didn't move so I turned my head to the side, a calendar caught my eye, it read, 'thirteenth of November, 1918'.

"Psssh, Mate; time to update the calendar a little, don't ya think?" I asked him with a smirk. He turned his he to the calendar I was looking at and shook his head.

"No, why, what's wrong with it?" I frowned, and then laughed.

"Oh really, what year is it then?" He seemed unfazed.

"nineteen-eighteen, why?" I laughed humourlessly.

"Don't fuck with me. He's pulling my leg right Alphonse?" There was a part of me that was beginning

to worry.

"Um, no Hayden, it's nineteen-eighteen." My laugh turned hysterical as I wheeled myself over to the calendar.

"Guys stop messing with me!" I yelled angrily as I ripped the pages from the calendar, throwing them to the floor. Each page read the same, 'nineteen-eighteen'. I felt a hand rest on my shoulder, "Don't touch me," I growled, breathing heavily with my hands against the wall.

I heard a gentle voice, "Hayden, what year do you think it is?" It was Edward; his voice was slow and soft as if he were talking to a child.

"It's two-thousand-and-ten. Edward, stop messing with me, it's not funny anymore." I whispered, my eyes closed tightly, trying to subside the creeping anxiety.

"It's not, two-thousand-and-ten Hayden, it's nineteen-eighteen," His voice remained soft as my eyes snapped open.

"I'm not crazy!" I screamed viciously at him, a couple of items on Roys desk jiggled, as if they had a mind of their own.

"Okay, I believe you." He said gently, putting his hand on my shoulder.

'_Poor girl.'_

I growled, "No you don't! And neither does he," I hissed, pointing at Roy standing motionless with a dumbfounded look on his face. I looked towards Al, he sighed.

"Ed, she's telling the truth." He said sympathetically. "She's –"

I cut him off. "I'm not from your stupid little backwards world." I growled, my nose felt stuffy though I shed no tears.

"What?" The question came this time from Roy who was now standing beside me. I groaned and wheeled myself to his desk.

"Just give me a lead pencil and a couple of pieces of paper." I waited a few minutes whilst Roy fumbled through his desk looking for what I'd requested. When the items sat before me, I grabbed the pencil and closed my eyes. "So this is roughly what an eye looks like in your world right?" I opened my eyes once I had completed the drawing and pushed the image to the side.

I closed my eyes once again and began to sketch. "Well this is what an eye looks like in my world." I heard a chorus of gasps as I opened my eyes to see the wonder in their faces as they looked at my photo-like drawing.


End file.
